Joey Mendez didn't sleep.
The warehouse office was dark, except for flickering monitors and the dying embers of a cigar.
His eyes twitched as he stared at the red zeros blinking on the screen. His offshore accounts, wallets, stocks—everything had been vaporized. Erased like they never existed.
"It's not a hacker," Langford's voice echoed from earlier. "This is something… different."
"What the hell does that even mean?" Joey had shouted.
"It means we're dealing with someone who has power none of us understand."
Joey stood, ran a hand across his face, and walked toward the shattered mirror on the far wall. His own reflection glared back, fractured into a dozen angry shards.
"This ain't over…"
📍Meanwhile – Ethan's Private Loft
A private penthouse. Glass walls. Silent drones floating like hawks outside.
Ethan sat at a sleek obsidian desk, scrolling through Langford Group's board members, investment pipelines, and weak links.
"Joey was just noise," he muttered. "David's the real cancer."
His System chimed.
[Skill Store – Tier I Upgrades Available]
Facial Recognition Web I (2 PP): Auto-track targets in public or private cams.
Behavioral Mapping I (3 PP): Predict target actions based on data patterns.
AI Voice Cloak I (3 PP): Spoof voices over call/video.
Ethan purchased Facial Recognition Web and AI Voice Cloak, leaving 3 Power Points.
He tapped a button. A new screen opened: dozens of facial IDs from cameras around the city. The System auto-flagged one: Lila.
Location: Midtown Spa, 2nd Floor.
With: Unknown Female (possible friend)
Duration: 1 hour 12 minutes.
Comments: "Laughing. Drinking champagne."
Ethan's face was calm. Too calm.
"She thinks this is a honeymoon. Let's ruin the mood."
📍Midtown Spa – 20 Minutes Later
Lila leaned back in the heated pool, champagne in hand.
"David's got this new yacht," she bragged to her friend. "He's naming it after me. He's so intense lately though—keeps talking about ghost or something."
Her friend raised an eyebrow. "Ghosts?"
Before Lila could respond, the spa lights dimmed.
Then…
Every screen turned black.
A white symbol appeared—a digital skull with a crown.
A voice came through the speaker system. Deep. Modulated.
"Lila Vance. You traded love for luxury. Now watch what that buys you."
The pool jets stopped. The water turned ice cold.
Then the fire alarm triggered—not in the building. At her mansion.
Her phone buzzed.
Security Alert: Unauthorized Entry Detected.
Your home is now vulnerable.
Lila screamed and scrambled out of the water, towel falling as she slipped and hit the tiles.
📍Langford Tower – Executive Lounge
David received the alert seconds later.
His eyes scanned the footage. A man in a black tailored suit, wearing a matte-gray mask, walking through his property like it belonged to him.
But security never caught him on entry. No door was breached. No window smashed.
Just… presence.
"Track him!" David shouted.
"Sir, the cameras—he's not in any of them."
"He's there but not there," David growled. "Like a damn ghost."
Then came the email. No sender.
Subject: You took everything from him. Now he'll take more than everything.
Attached: A video of Lila slipping on the spa floor, soaked, humiliated, screaming.
David's hand clenched the glass so hard it shattered.
📍Ethan's System Dashboard
[Total Net Worth: $7,921.32]
[New Asset Unlocked: Langford Smart-Lock Exploit]
[Reputation Under Alias "Elijah Crane": Climbing]
Ethan sipped his espresso, silent. In front of him, Joey's warehouse blew up on livestream—an "accidental gas leak," the report would say.
He didn't react.
He simply looked at the screen and whispered,
"David Langford. You've lived too long without fear."
"Time to learn who owns the shadows now."